Mocha Pudding with Ginger Snap Cookie Crumble

This recipe contains high quality chocolate pudding, topped with whipped cream, toasted coconut and crumbled ginger snap cookies. For chocolate lovers, this more than hits the spot!

This recipe is also great to make in advance. I had a dinner party the other night, and I was desperately craving chocolate for dessert. I decided to pre-make the chocolate pudding so that when the dinner party came around, all I had to do was add the toppings.

Which chocolate should I use?

Any type of higher quality chocolate would be preferable in this dish. I would suggest using either semisweet or bittersweet chocolate as opposed to milk chocolate. Milk chocolate can over power the dessert with too much sweetness.

Does vanilla make a difference?

Any time that I am making a pastry that contains chocolate, I like to add vanilla. Adding vanilla really enhances the chocolate flavor and is similar to how you will find baking recipes that contain salt as a counterpart. You can use either vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.

Vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract are two ingredients that can be easily confused. Vanilla bean paste contains actual seeds that come from a vanilla bean pod. Vanilla extract is made from soaking vanilla beans in alcohol and water. I prefer vanilla bean paste for most recipes because it has an incredible amount of flavor. You can also see flakes of the vanilla bean in the final product which has a visually appealing effect. A little goes a long way with this Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla bean paste. If a recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract, you can use 1 Tablespoon of vanilla paste instead. We sell vanilla bean paste at both locations of The Chopping Block. 

What is tempering?

Tempering is a technique used when you have two ingredients that differ in temperature and you want to slowly add them together without creating a negative byproduct. For example, in this recipe, you heat up milk and heavy cream. Once this liquid has reached a steam, you then want to add the ingredients to a bowl that contains sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, espresso powder and cold milk. If you added these two together too quickly, you could end up scrambling your eggs. Instead, you want to slowly ladle some of the warm milk into the egg mixture while constantly whisking. Keep adding ladles of the warm mixture until about half of the mixture is in the egg mixture. Then, pour everything back in the pot.

Mocha Pudding with Ginger Snap Cookie Crumble

Recipe adapted from TCB’s Mocha Pudding with Amaretti Cookie Crumble. Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe. 

Yield: 16 servings

Active time: 20 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour, 20 minutes

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

3 cups milk, divided

1 cup heavy cream

10 ounces Callebaut semisweet chocolate pieces

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/3 cup amaretto

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy cream whipped with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar to soft peaks

1/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted

12 ginger snap cookies, slightly crushed

1. Set the oven to 375. Put the shredded coconut on a sheet tray and lightly toast, for about 4 minutes. Set to the side.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, yolks, cornstarch, espresso powder and 1 1/2 cups cold milk.
3. Place the other 1 1/2 cups milk with the cream in a heavy saucepan, and heat gently until steaming.
4. Slowly ladle some of the warm milk into the egg mixture while constantly whisking. Keep adding ladles of the warm mixture until about half of the mixture is in the egg mixture. Then, pour everything back in the pot.
5. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding boils. It may take up to 10 minutes—don’t stop stirring!
6. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, butter, amaretto and vanilla, stirring to melt.
7. Pour into a shallow dish, and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic is touching the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming on top. Allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
8. Spoon or pipe the chilled pudding into the chocolate cups.
9. Top each serving of pudding with a dollop of whipped cream and a generous sprinkle of crushed cookies.

For those that would love to learn about their main squeeze – chocolate - check out our Chocolate Boot Camp coming up this Saturday, February 8 at 10am at the Mart. Warning, the menu is strictly for chocolaholics!

• Tempered Chocolate
• Dark Chocolate Truffles
• Pot de Crème with Whipped Cream
• Ganache, Two Ways
• Molten Lava Cakes with Truffle Centers
• Triple Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Ganache Filling and Chocolate Frosting
• Chocolate Ganache Tart